Brewers overtake A's, win in 10th

Plus a report of more Colon drug troubles?

Updated 11:52 pm, Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Milwaukee's Carlos Gomez slides home with the winning run on Yuniesky Betancourt's double.

Milwaukee's Carlos Gomez slides home with the winning run on Yuniesky Betancourt's double.

Photo: Morry Gash, Associated Press

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Bartolo Colon, 6-2 after returning from his 50-game suspension, could face another ban.

Bartolo Colon, 6-2 after returning from his 50-game suspension, could face another ban.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

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Yoenis Céspedes' long homers to center field off Kyle Lohse in the first and fourth innings supplied all of the A's runs.

Yoenis Céspedes' long homers to center field off Kyle Lohse in the first and fourth innings supplied all of the A's runs.

Photo: Mike McGinnis, Getty Images

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MILWAUKEE, WI - JUNE 04: Yoenis Cespedes #52 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers during the interleague game at Miller Park on June 04, 2013 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images) less

MILWAUKEE, WI - JUNE 04: Yoenis Cespedes #52 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers during the interleague ... more

Photo: Mike McGinnis, Getty Images

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MILWAUKEE, WI - JUNE 04: Carlos Gomez #27 of the Milwaukee Brewers reaches home on a hit by Yuniesky Betancourt in the bottom of the tenth inning putting the Brewers on top 4-3 against the Oakland Athletics during the interleague game at Miller Park on June 04, 2013 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images) less

MILWAUKEE, WI - JUNE 04: Carlos Gomez #27 of the Milwaukee Brewers reaches home on a hit by Yuniesky Betancourt in the bottom of the tenth inning putting the Brewers on top 4-3 against the Oakland Athletics ... more

Photo: Mike McGinnis, Getty Images

Brewers overtake A's, win in 10th

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MILWAUKEE - The A's were on the way to their 16th win in 18 games, but they blew a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning and lost to the Brewers 4-3 Tuesday night.

Yoenis Céspedes' two home runs and A.J. Griffin's seven scoreless innings were wasted. The Brewers scored three eighth-inning runs off Sean Doolittle and won it in the 10th on Yuniesky Betancourt's RBI double off Pat Neshek.

Despite the rare late-game mishap, the vibes are good with the A's. So is the chemistry. And morale. Not to mention the pitching, hitting and defending. The A's don't need and can't afford a distraction. Or a key player missing significant time.

Bartolo Colon will pitch Wednesday's series finale, and it won't be just another Colon start. He'll be under a shadow, again, following an ESPN report that he and other big-leaguers will be targeted for suspensions by Major League Baseball for their connection with Florida's Biogenesis clinic and the sport's latest performance-enhancing drug scandal.

As the A's were making their playoff push last summer, Colon was suspended 50 games for testing positive for excessive levels of synthetic testosterone. Why he'd be suspended again wasn't made clear in the report, and it's always possible MLB could be lenient toward players already suspended.

Colon is 6-2 with a 3.33 ERA and coming off his fifth career shutout, a five-hitter against the White Sox. In Oakland franchise history, he's the second pitcher in his 40s to throw a shutout.

Soon after ESPN ran its story, which quickly became the talk of the baseball industry, Coco Crisp stepped into the batter's box at Miller Park and slashed a single to left field. He stole second, advanced on a groundout and scored on Céspedes' first of two homers off Kyle Lohse.

Griffin gave up four hits and issued one walk, handing a 3-0 lead to Doolittle, who gave up hits to the only three batters he faced (on just four pitches), including Jean Segura, who hit a two-run triple. Ryan Cook replaced Doolittle, and Aramis Ramirez hit a shattered-bat single to tie the score.

After yielding two runs in his first 23 appearances, Doolittle has given up at least two runs in each of his past three outings.

"He's dealing with being hit for the first time in his career," Melvin said. "We still have a lot of confidence in him. We can try to give him another outing in a different type scenario, but a lot of times it doesn't pop up that way."

Doolittle, who converted to pitching less than two years ago, seems determined to keep his setup role.

"My mechanics have been crisp and clean. That's why it's frustrating, because I feel so good," he said. "I still feel like I did two weeks ago. I want to continue to pitch in these types of games."

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